Calais Food Collective started in 2020 as a local, volunteer-run organization that provides food, water, and waste management services to displaced people living in informal camps in Calais, northern France.

At any given time, up to 2,000 displaced people in Calais face extreme poverty, serious health risks, and systematic exclusion from public assistance. They normally live in informal camps of makeshift tents in the woods or fields around the town, with limited access to the most basic resources such as food, water, shelter, clothing and hygiene items. Particularly in the last couple of months, the amount of displaced people in Calais has grown, with an increased number of women and children.

Our water project involves creating and maintaining accessible water points in Calais and its surroundings. Our semi-permanent water tanks are placed near informal camps and refilled daily with fresh drinkable water. Our project is necessary because the local administration refuses to install permanent water access infrastructure (such as taps or fountains), with the aim of creating a hostile atmosphere.

Every summer, the demand for water for drinking, cooking and hygiene rises significantly in response to the heat. This summer in particular, France was hit by unprecedented heatwaves with temperatures reaching 50 degrees in some areas. In the first 4 months of 2026 we distributed 360,000 litres of water. In the following 4 months between May and August, we distributed over 1 million. We had no choice but to keep operating despite the heat; our project helps to protect people’s dignity in a context where state policy forces thousands of displaced people into untenable living conditions. But this rising need for water has had a significant financial impact on our projects. Over summer, we had to use more of our reserves than expected to cover the huge demand for water, destabilising our financial situation for the rest of the year.

Water is a basic human right. It shouldn't be the responsibility of grassroots organisations like CFC to provide water, but right now it is, and we need your help.

By ensuring consistent access to clean water and more sanitary living spaces, our project reduces acute health risks throughout the year, during both the unprecedented temperatures we saw this summer and the equally harsh weather which we know winter will bring.

Since Calais Food Collective was founded in 2020, we have provided more than 1.1 million meals, distributed more than 12 million liters of water, and collected more than 20,000 bags of trash. Last year alone, we distributed over 2 million litres of water.

In an increasingly hostile political landscape it is becoming harder for us to find financial support. Following the harsh summer we just experienced and the recurrent heatwaves, we need your help to raise enough money to cover the increased costs of our water project.

Every donation counts.

Thank you for your support!

In solidarity,

Calais Food Collective